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The Deep South
"The Deep South" is 16th episode of Season Two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 16, 2000. Plot A mix-up results in Nibbler receiving a mandatory fishing license instead of a pet license. The crew takes the Planet Express ship to the center of the Atlantic Ocean and starts fishing. After failing to catch anything, a bored Bender fashions a large fish hook made from Amy Wong's beach umbrella, with Hermes Conrad's Manwich on it as bait, and attaches it to the ship's Unbreakable Diamond Tether. Sunset comes and the crew is ready to head back to New New York. Bender begins to haul in his line, but he has caught a Colossal-Mouth Bass. The bass dives, dragging the ship to the bottom of the ocean before the hook slips loose and Hermes lost his speedos. The Planet Express ship survives its trek to the bottom, but its engines will not work underwater. Professor Farnsworth conveniently has an anti-pressure suppository which Fry uses to go foraging for food with Bender and Dr. Zoidberg. Separated from them, Fry glimpses a mermaid, but when he returns to the ship, no one believes him. That night, the mermaid Umbriel lures Fry out of the ship; she gives him an underwater breathing apparatus and they leave to explore the wonders of the ocean bottom. Meanwhile, Zoidberg finds a new home, a large conch shell. The next morning, the crew finishes modifying the ship to return to the surface, but finds Fry missing. They set off following Zoidberg's sense of smell and find the legendary lost city of Atlanta. There they find a civilization of merpeople with southern accents. A documentary, narrated by Donovan, explains that Atlanta moved offshore in an effort to boost tourism and become a bigger Delta hub. The city overdeveloped and its excess weight caused it to sink to the bottom. Everyone that stayed with the city evolved into merpeople, accelerated by the assistance of leaking caffeine from Atlanta's Coca-Cola plant. Ready to leave, the crew heads back to the ship, including Zoidberg, whose house burned down from Bender's cigar: no one knows why or even how this can happen at the bottom of the sea; but Fry wants to stay with Umbriel. Fry settles in to enjoy his life with Umbriel, but when he discovers that the Atlantans' evolution has made them unable to have sexual intercourse with humans, he runs to try to catch his friends. The ship leaves without him, but Bender's hook is still attached to the tether. Fry grabs hold and is dragged behind the ship. The colossal-mouth bass returns and is hooked when it swallows Fry whole. The bass stays caught and Fry returns to the surface with the rest of the crew. Bender's bass sets an Earth record, until Fry falls out of him and the weight is lowered, resulting in Bender losing his money to a blind orphan, at which point Bender begins choking Fry. Dr. Zoidberg, having lost his under-sea home, reveals he now lives inside the bass. Censorship A line of dialog was edited for an airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Professor Farnsworth's exclamation of "Sweet Zombie Jesus!" when the giant fish leaps out of the water had the word "Jesus" muted from the audio track, although the animation for the dialog is left intact. In contrast, airings on TBS's "Too Funny To Sleep" marathon cut the entire scene containing the line. When this episode was shown on Sky1 in the UK, Umbriel's line "I want you to make a Mer-woman out of Mer-me" before she has sex with Fry was muted out due to it being shown before the watershed hour (when more explicit sexual lines would have been allowed). Ongoing Themes Fry and Leela Fry has an affair with Umbriel and at one point actually tells her that he loves her. Deaths, near-deaths, mutilations Leela harpoons Bender's ass. Hermes beats Zoidberg with a fishing rod. Bender knocks Fry down using a laser-guided fishing rod, then injures Fry's small intestine moments later. Bender takes Amy's umbrella, causing her to get sunburn. Bender's eyes shatter because of the undersea pressure at 6000 feet. Fry roasts shrimp over a volcanic sea vent. Near the end of the episode, Fry is eaten by a colossal-mouth bass. He emerges later from the fish's mouth, slimy but unharmed. Hermes-isms * Like a greensnake under a sugarcane truck Hermes and Zoidberg Zoidberg pushes Hermes' limits again by devouring Hermes' bait. But Hermes seemed ok with Zoidberg just tasting the bait. So it's possible that Hermes really has forgiven Zoidberg for the Spa 5 incident. He doesn't lash out until Zoidberg gets carried away, referring to Zoidberg as "it" and as a "moochin' crawdad". The relationship takes a sharp turn later in the episode when Hermes proposes that the rest of the crew cook and eat Dr Zoidberg. Deep South Category:Episodes Category:Fry Episodes